Locomotive drafting plant



N015, 1929. EH. coPPu 1,734,078 LOCOMOTIVE DRAFTING PLANT Original Filed Sept. 14, 1925 3 Sheets- Sheet l Maw/4 Nov. 5, 1929. F. H. c. coPPus LOCOMOTIVE DRAFTING PL ANT- :s- Sheets-Sheet 2 Original Filed Sept. 14, 1925 Nov. 1929. F. COPPUS 1,734,0 8

LOCOMOTIVE DRAFTING PLANT Original Filed Sept. 14, 1925 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 l atented Nov. 5, 1929 eras r c rrier FIR-ANS H. C. COPP'US, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO ANNA M. C.

WECHSBERG, VERA L. WOOD, AND BEANS H. C. COPPUS, TRUSTEES, OF WORCESTER,

MASSACHUSETTS LOCOMOTIVE DRAFTING PLANT Original application filed September 14, 1925, Serial No. 56,113. Patent No. 1,669,455 dated May 15,1928. v Divided and this application filed June 13, 1927. Serial No. 198,510.

This is a division of my application for pat ent on a system of drattmg locomotives lIl roundhous'es, Serial'No. 56,113, filed Septem-- ber 14, 1925, Patent No. 1,669,455, May 15, 1928.

This invention relates to drafting of locomotives in roundhouses during the firing up period, butit is capable of general use, particularly certain parts of it.

The principal obj ects of the invention are to eliminate the usual steam pipe with'which roundhouses are now provided; to substitute for it mechanism for drafting locomotives in the different stalls of a roundhouse or any other place "where locomotives may be drafted such as repair sheds, railroad yards, sidings, etc., by a portable blower to be attached to or placed on the stack of a locomot ve and to discharge the gases of combustion into'the smokejack or uptake through the roof of the roundhouse or into a stack or chimney, or directely into open atmosphere; to provide means for quickly transferring the blower from one locomotivefto another; to provide the blower with a suitable support to place it on the stack of the locomotive regardless of the position of the locomotive in relation to the smoke jack or gas uptake; to provide means for connecting the blower with the top of the smoke jack regardless of the height of the locomotive; to provide supporting means for the blower in case the locomotive should be backed out of the roundhouse while the blower is on the stack of the locomotive; and to provide means for fitting the blower on dif ferent sizes and heights of locomotive stacks.

. Other objects and advantages of the inven-j tion will appear hereinafter.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings in'which Fig. l is a plan of a part of a roundhouse indicating several stalls and illustrating the overhead tracking arranged according to this invention and its relation to the smoke jacks but without illustrating details;

Figs. 2 and 3 are a plan and side view showing a way of providing for the pivotal arrangement of the spur track;

Figs. 4; and 5 are end and side views of a blower to be used;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged sectional view of the adjustable blower intake;

Figs. 7 and 8 are views similar to Figs. 4 and 5 showing another form in which a part of thisinvention can be carried out;

Figs. 9 and 10 are similar views of another form; f

Fig. 11 is an enlarged sectional view on the line ll11 of Fig. 9; and

Fig. 12 is an enlarged sectional View on the line 1212 of Fig. 9.

Every time the boiler of a locomotive is cleaned and inspected, which is done at least once a'month, a new fire must be started in the locomotive, and steam pressure built up. When minor repairs are made in the locomo tive fire box, while the locomotive boiler remains under steam pressure, air'is induced through the locomotive fire box by creating a draft in the locomotive stack. This is normally done by a steam jet blower with which each locomotive stack is equipped, and usually steam for operating this steam blower is taken from a steam main in'the roundhouse. This means that a steam connection must be made through a flexible'hose or steam pipes with flexible couplings. This method isvery costly and cumbersome. The advantages of a blower system are fully appreciated, but heretofore blower systems have always been of astationary nature, the stack beingfconnected by flexible or telescoping pipes to the blower intake. The blower then discharges the gases of combustion. or the air induced through a chimney. This system has been found very costly to maintain, cumbersome in operation, and tending to a wasteof power on account of the tendency of the operator to leave the blower intakes open, thereby using needlessly much power. V h

lNith my system I provide a smal motor driven blower which takes care of one locomotive at a time, but may be usedin any one stall ot' the roundhouse. A number of such blowers may be used side by side or widely scattered over the roundhouse thereby giving the utmost flexibility of operation. For this purpose I provide a monorail system from one end of the roundhouse to the other, with a spur leading to each stall of the roundhouse,

may be moved-slightly to the left or right-to take. care of anyJtilting of the locomotive stack. This can be done by chains 120 or the like. The free end rests and slides onahorizontal bar12f1. V In this case the track normally moves directly under the sn oke jaclrlmg I have shown in Figs. 2 and'3'how the rail 125 can be pivoted on the stud12 6. Thepivot stud is mounted on a plate123 secured to the bottom of a stationary rail 127 Overlapping plates 128 and 129 the rails 125 and 127 The blower casing is located I in inclined position, in Figs. 4, 5 'and 6. The intake liitl, instead of being fi xed rigidly to the blower casing, telescopes with oneor more sections I or collars 131. These sections are moved up and down bytwo chainsor ropes 132 running over quadrants 133, oneofthe quadrants having an arm .134 with a chain 135 to operate it fro'mth'e floor}. Therefore; instead of moving the blower up and down, onlythe intake is moved up' and downand no hoist is neces- 'sary.' The bloweris suspended by a link 136 pivotally depending from a trolley.

. Inthe form shown in Figs. 7 and 8 the blower casing issuspended by chains 8 and a yoke 8f, fulcrumedatti in a lug 8 of the blower; casing. The chains 8*are' the load chains of a'geared trolley hoist 9, the'trolley ofwhich runs over 13119813112125 of themonorailsystem which is suitably supported by hangers, The jack-11' is provided with doors 12 which'are pulled open, by a chain 13 over a pulley] sufficiently to allow thelblower to enterthe smoke jack; Aiter the blower has entered the smokejaek the doors areallowed I to closeby their own weight orbysuitable springs or counter-weights,n0t shown, prov ded for the purpose. The tracker spu13125 passes through the doors .12 and through an opening 7 in the opposite wall. The blower has a conical intake 15 whichrests on the locomotive st z'tck the blower beingmoved up and down; y haoreratin chain. f. o s By means era chain 121 the blower can be swung about the chains 8. By operatingthe chain 17 or the geared trolleythe blower is moved in or out ofthea'eln Figs. 9 to: 12 show thet blowerwith a s'erew hoist insteadiof a chain: hoist, aspreviously described. The screw hoi isspivotallyssupported from thetrolley. The blower issus pended from the screw'rod 2Q, fulcrumed at 2 1 so that it c'anl'swingslightlyout .of its nor;

m1 position in .orderto set squarely on the locomotivestack if the locomotive should vbe re secured tothe tops 0t tipped to one side. Bracket 22 which is fas tened to the blower outlet, has a fork 23, the arms of which are guided by the fiat sides of the housing 24 of the screw hoist so that'the blower and the hoist rod 25.. are prevented from turning around, the center-o tthe rod.

The blower itself consists of a housing having an intake elbow 31'provided witlra flared inlet 32. To the-upper'part'ofthe blower housing is bolted" afair casing-38- with a hub 34 containing a bearingbushing 35 throughwhichpasses the shaft 36. The bushing 35 is provided with prongs 01,ribs, on the outside so that air passages 37 "are 'formedb'- tween the'hub 34r and the bushing. The hub 34 is fastened to thecasing-33 by.mea-n s of ribs 34 and between these ribsare gaps 34?.

which are closed by. covers-an d' thus. constitute air passages. The inlet to theairpassagesfi'l' is closed by a pipe 40 and the inlet to the-air passages 34 is closed by a flat plate, 41 anda pipe 42. y This forms an air 1 paSYSilge; between the pipes 40 and 42 whichcQm unicates with the atmosphere outsideof the bloweri An air passage is ,also formed betwen ithe pipe/l0 and th'efshaft 36 cOmmuniCatingwith thepas; sages 37' and openingup to 'the motor'fcasing By the action of the. fan :38 airis, drawn from the outside between the pipes; 40 and 42 and also through themotor andlaroun'dithe shaft.

At the extreme end of theshaft is th e, 'fan 138 discharging, the gasesinto the. blower out? et 9. i 1

On the other end of the ,housing 30 i bnlted the motor frame, consisting vof a. cape 43;..shell 44, and cap 45, the latter containing the other bearing of. the blower. Thus thellmotor. is located out ofthe path or the heatedfgasesjof combustion The lubrication ofthis bearing is furnished by an ordinarygrease cup screwed into the cover 48 and thepgreasepipe' for the upper beari-ng. is located inside. of a sleeve, which is screwed int'orthehub .34 so, that there is an, air, passage. betweenthis pipe and vthe grease pipe forkeeping; the, grease cool. A guard 46 protects the motor:

The casing 30'v is ,pIOVidedjWith.tWQdOQBs. 47, one on each side, which when the blower is notin operation, ,hang open,asindicated, but when the blower isstarted up, a suction. is created inside ofthe blower ihonsing, which. automatically closes these, doors." These doors are for the purpose 0f.letting;cold.;air' into the blower housing, if the blowenshould be allowed to remain on a staek not in operation, thereby reducing -the, ,temperatury; of

the gases andconsequent ly theheat to whichj the bearing 35 is subjected}, iThemoteris pr vided with. longgwires ,for plugging ;in the motor at a convenient. place-iOr QaQhl$tQll.,

With all these, constructions, the steam P p w h h ch ndhaus s re QIdiflBrily,

q pp for the .purpese. tdmftinat eiloco. motives are entirely eliminated; ThiSgsfilSO eliminates the expense of inst-allationendnp;

keep of these pipes and their supply from the boilers. The blower is held up, if the locomotive is moved out when nobody is attending to the blower particularly, so that no damage is likely to be done from any inattention of that kind. The portable blower is easily fitted to the stack of the locomotive even if the stack is not centrally located under the jack or if it is tilted to one side. This is a material improvement over the blower systems that have been installed heretofore because the blower is portable and no flexible or telescoping pipes have to be used in connection with it that may be left open, thus wasting power.

Although I have illustrated and described three forms of the invention. I am aware of the fact that other modifications can be made therein by any person skilled in the art with out departing from the scope of the invention as expressed in the claims.

Therefore I do not wish to be limited in these respects but what I do claim is 1. In a locomotive roundhouse, the combination with the smoke jacks, of a main track,

a series of spurs extending inwardly from the main track to the several stalls of the roundhouse under the smoke jacks, a series of pivots connecting the spurs with the main track so that the spurs can be swung about in a horizontal plane, and a portable blower supported by and movable along the track and any of the spurs.

2. In a locomotive drafting plant, the combination with a main track and a series of spurs pivotally connected with the main track, of a portable blower depending from and movable along under the track and also movable on said spurs, smoke jacks through which the several spurs are located, and doors for the smoke jacks to allow the blower to enter the jack.

3. In a locomotive drafting plant, the combination with a smoke jack having a door, a track extending into the jack, and a blower supported from the track and movable into the jack through the door.

4. In a locomotive drafting plant, the combination with a smoke jack, and a track capable of being located in vertical alignment therewith, of a blower supported by the track and movable along it into registration with the ack.

5. The combination with a smoke jack, of a blower for application to. a locomotive smoke stack and adapted to direct the gases therefrom upon into the jack, means for supporting the blower within the bottom of the jack pivotally on horizontal and vertical axes, said blower comprising a casing with an open mouth at the bottom slanting and conical to receive the top of a smoke stack, and a motor for driving the blower located below the casing and outside its intake.

6. In a locomotive drafting plant, the combination with a smoke jack, of a track pivoted at one end to swing on a vertical axis, and a transverse horizontal bar on. which the free end of the track rests, the track being located under the jack.

1 7. In a locomotive drafting plant, the combination with a locomotive smoke stack, of a track pivoted so that it can be swung about in a horizontal plane,-and a portable blower supported by and movable along the track toward the stack.

8. In a locomotive drafting plant, the combination with a locomotive smoke stack, of a stationary track, a pivoted track connected with the stationary track so that the pivoted track cam be swung about. in a horizontal plane, and a portable blower supported by and movable along the stationary track and the pivoted track toward the stack.

9. In a locomotive drafting plant, the com bination with a locomotive smoke stack, of a track pivoted so that it can be swung about in a horizontal plane, a trolley on said track, means for moving the trolley along the track, a vertical support depending from the trolley and capable of turning on its vertical axis, and a blower pivotally connected on a horizontal axis with said support, whereby the blower can be turned about said vertical axis and swung on the horizontal pivot to bring it into proper relation .to the smoke stack beneath. j

10. In a locomotive drafting plant, the, combination with a locomotive smoke stack, of a stationary track, a'pivoted track connected with the stationary track so that the pivoted track can be swung about in a horizontal plane, a trolley on said track,-means for moving the trolley along the'track, a vertical support depending from the trolley and capable of turning on its vertical axis, and a blower pivotally connected on a horizontal axis with said'support, whereby the blower can be turned about said vertical axis and swung onthe horizontal pivot to bring it into proper relation to the smoke stack beneath. i I r 11. In a locomotive roundhouse, the combination with a smoke jack thereof, of a track under the smoke jack and a portable blower supported by and movable along the track, and means whereby the blower can be moved unilyersally to any desired position under the ac 12. In a locomotive drafting plant, the

combination with a smoke stack, of a bodily movable track located under the jack, a blower supported by said track and movable horizontally into any position under the smoke jack and adapted to be adjusted to the stack of a locomotive under the jack.

13. In a locomotive drafting plant, the combination with a track and a smoke jack located over the track, of a blower, means located under the jack for adjustably supporting the-blower, saicl' means being cztpable of allowingfthblowenitself to be moved to any position iinder the jack,- and: means wherebythe blower-"Cain be-adjusted to fit on smoke stacks of different sizes and kinds:

14. In locomotivefroundhouse; the combination'witli wsmok'e ack thereof; of a, tracli below the smoke: j aek movablei horizontally and a p ortable: blower supported by J and mov a-bler along'thetrack:

15. In a locomotive drafting. plant, the combination with a smokeja'clgof a track pivoted atione end'to swing on a vertical "axis; and supporting means for theifree end of the track'capable:ofrellowingt the'track to be moved in'a horizontal plane, thetra-ck b'eing loeatecbuncler the jack.

16.. In a locomotive drafting plant; thecornbination with a smoke jack, of atrzc'k pivoted so :thatit canbe swungiebout in a horizontal plane;- anda :portab'le blow'er supported by anclmovabl'e: along'th'e t'ra'ek toward the jack.

17. 111 a' locomotive draftingplant, the combination with: a E smoke jack; of a track pivoted so that it can beswung: aboutin a horizonttl plane, wporfable blower movable along the track and means for bringing the outlet of the blower in to registration with the "smoke jack;

18; In a'ilocomotive drafting plant, the combination" with a locomotive smoke stack; of a track pivoted so that it can-bd'sw'un'g about ina-horiz'ontzil pla'neta portable blower movable along thetrack andmeans for bringing the inlet ot-the *blower 'into' registration With the topo'frthe smoke stack.

19'. In awlocomotive drafting plmnt; the combination with a 'smoke jack; of attack movable-horizontally? and a. portable blower supported byrand movable along-thetraok' to and from the-smokejack;

20; In a-locomotive drafting'plant, the combinationwith a locomotivestzfck; of a track I movable horizontally and a portable blower supported by and -movable along the track to and from the smoker-stack.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto affixed mysignature."

. FR'ANSH: o. GOPPUS;

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